The first arrival to be here noticed consisted of
David Bennett, and his wife Martha, with their two
children, a little boy named George, and a nameless
babe one month old. This family journeyed from
Loudon county, Va. David, the husband, had been
in bonds under Captain James Taylor. Martha,
the wife, and her two children were owned by George
Carter. Martha’s master was represented
as a very barbarous and cruel man to the slaves.
He made a common practice of flogging females when
stripped naked. This was the emphatic testimony
of Martha. Martha declared that she had been
so stripped, and flogged by him after her marriage.
The story of this interesting young mother, who was
about twenty-seven years of age, was painful to the
ear, particularly as the earnestness and intelligence
of this poor, bruised, and mangled soul bore such strong
evidence to the truthfulness of her statements.
During the painful interview the mind would involuntarily
picture this demon, only as the representative of
thousands in the South using the same relentless sway
over men and women; and this fleeing victim and her
little ones, before escaping, only as sharers of a
common lot with many other mothers and children, whose
backs were daily subjected to the lash. If on
such an occasion it was hard to find fitting words
of sympathy, or adequate expressions of indignation,
the pleasure of being permitted to give aid and comfort
to such was in part a compensation and a relief.
David, the husband of this woman, was about thirty-two
years of age. No further notice was made of him.

Arrival No. 2 consisted of Henry Washington, alias
Anthony Hanly, and Henry Stewart. Henry left
Norfolk and a “very mild master,” known
by the name of “Seth March,” out of sheer
disgust for the patriarchal institution. Directly
after speaking of his master in such flattering terms
he qualified the “mild,” &c. by adding
that he was excessively close in money matters.
In proof of this assertion, Henry declared, that out